The job of being CEO is no easy task, just ask any of the six men and women who have been employed in the top job at Yahoo since 2007.

So it might seem a bit harsh to suggest that alongside the massive pressure that comes with the day-to-day running of a company, CEOs should also be a figurehead for their company’s marketing efforts.

But at Distilled’s LinkLove conference SEOMoz CEO Rand Fishkin suggested that those in the top job have a big role in setting the overall tone of their business, including marketing.

He said it’s natural that companies take on the passions, interests and eccentricities of their founders. As a result, the CEO can have a huge impact on the direction and strategy of their company’s marketing.

On May 7, 2012, François Hollande took over from Nicolas Sarkozy as President of France. If, for many, the final vote was read as an indictment against Sarkozy, more than a vote for Hollande, both candidates outdid themselves equally in one area: they were both equally inept at handling the social media opportunity.

As we reflect on the Obama-Romney duel, one can observe that social media and politics are inextricably linked. While social media has had a well-noted impact in the Arab Spring and, increasingly, in deeply controlled countries such as Saudi Arabia and China, the relationship has even more impact in a democratic forum, where openness and liberty of expression are enabled, along with the potential for anonymity.

Salesforce kicked off Dreamforce'12, their customer and new product introduction extravaganza, with the declaration that business is social and socializing the enterprise will lead to greater revenue, profits and customer service.

Mark Benioff, Salesforce CEO, quoted an IBM Global CEO study which states the most effective ways to reach customers is through the following channels: sales force, social networking, websites, partners, call centers and traditional approaches.

As CMO of Mint, the leading online personal finance service, Donna Wells helped win the startup 2 million users from its launch in 2007 to its acquisition by Intuit in 2009 for $170 million.

Before joining Mint, Wells led marketing departments at companies like Intuit, Charles Schwab, and Expedia. Wells' work has won Webbys and an OMMA award. Last year, she was named one of the Top 25 Women in Tech to Watch by Accenture.

This Spring, she took on the CEO role at a startup called Mindflash, a company that hopes to improve online training. I caught up with Donna to talk about the switch from CMO to CEO, and how social media marketing is evolving.